Comprehensive math and science bill clears the HouseRep. Ross Hunter - "We cannot continue to let our kids down."March 28, 2007 For immediate release Olympia - With nearly 50% of the state's eleventh grade students failing the math WASL and virtual consensus that a renewed focus on math and science education is necessary, lawmakers today passed key legislation that would trigger a systemic revamping of math and science instruction, including a narrowing of curricula choices for math. Rep. Ross Hunter (D-Medina) says the bill will address many of the long-term fixes needed to boost student achievement in these subjects. "Our system is failing our kids and this is simply unacceptable," commented Hunter. "We're all aware of the abysmal results that we've had over the last several years in the math assessment for our students. The problem isn't only about testing, it's about needing a serious focus on math instruction. There's no excuse for our failure in giving students the basic math and science skills that they'll need to be competitive in the real world." Second Substitute House Bill 1906 contains five key provisions: A review of math and science standards, requirements and curricula - The State Board of Education (SBE) and Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) will review and revise the state learning standards in math and science, with advice from national consultants and citizen advisory panels. SBE will increase graduation requirements in math from two to three credits, and OSPI will recommend three curricula choices for math and science. After-school support - OSPI will provide grants to community nonprofit groups providing after-school math support with a focus on middle and junior high students. Instructional coaches - OSPI will develop an instructional coach program to help math and science teachers refine and update teaching skills. Alternative routes to teacher certification - Two new programs are developed to help educators earn endorsements in math and science. The "Pipeline for Paraeducators" program will help paraeducators complete a two-year degree and enter a program to obtain a "math/special education" or "math/English as a Second Language" endorsement. The "Retooling to Teach Math and Science" program will allow current teachers to earn a math or science endorsement. College Readiness - The existing "Transition Math Project" will create a common college readiness test to be used by all public two- and four-year colleges. The test will be available for school districts who want to provide students an option of taking the test to gauge their math readiness for college. "We've worked really hard to understand this problem and take action," continued Hunter. "This bill will take us a long way to aligning our standards with the highest performing countries in the world while addressing some of the deeper problems in the way we teach math." The bill passed 90-7. # # # |
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Rep. Ross Hunter
48th Legislative District